Curtain wall assembly clip



June 18, 1968 H. 0. SCOTT CURTAIN WALL ASSEMBLY CLIP Filed Jan. 19, 1967Fig] INVENTOR. HARLEY D. SCOTT his ATTORNEY United States Patent3,388,518 CURTAIN WALL ASSEMBLY CLIP Harley D. Scott, Wexford, Pa.,assignor to Elwin G. Smith & Co., Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa. Filed Jan. 19,1967, Ser. No. 610,356 2 Claims. (Cl. 52--478) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The invention relates to assembly clips for fasten-inginterlocking panels of a wall construction to existing structuralframes. More specifically, it relates to a clip construction having arecessed portion which is attached to the frame member, a bent flangedportion which holds the interlocking panels together and to the framemember, and flanged portions which are supported by the frame member insuch a way as to prevent the clip (and the panels) from rotating orshifting.

This invention relates to an exterior wall construction, such as anuninsulated wall of vertically extending, interlocking metal panels,and, more particularly, relates to a unitary fastening means for holdingthe component parts of the wall together. This invention constitutes animprovement over Patents Nos. 3,209,503, issued Oct. 5, 1965, and2,989,157, issued June 20, 1961, assigned to the present assignee.

An outstanding disadvantage in assembling the parts of panel walls ofconventional construction is that they require a plurality of varioustypes of fastening means for holding the wall parts together, such assub-girts which are welded to the metal panels or to the buildingitself, and, in addition, screws, welded joints and other fasteningmeans, which considerably increase the time for erection of the wall aswell as increasing the cost of erection.

An object of my invention is to provide an uninsulated metal panel wallconstruction or assembly, sometimes referred to as a curtain wall, whichis devoid of the abovenamed disadvantages and which requires no weldingor additional fastening parts, such as sub-girts.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel fasteningmeans in the form of a unitary clip for holding together the componentparts of :an uninsulated metal panel wall, so that the single clip willprovide numerous fastening and other functions, namely, to fasten themetal panel to the structural building frame, to fasten and hold theexterior panels in place, to lock against the structural frame member toprevent turning, to fasten directly to the frame member by means of asimple, selftapping screw, to provide a recessed pocket for theselftapping screw so that the inner surface of the exterior panels mayabut the clip, to provide a support on which to lay various exteriorpanels, as well as to provide a concealed fastening means which does notmar the beauty of the finished wall, also to provide a clip whichenables elimination of one entire operation from the erection procedureof the panelled wall.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become more apparentfrom a study of the following description taken with the accompanyingdrawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a metal panel exterior wallconstruction wherein the exterior panel on the right hand side isremoved to more clearly show the fastening means embodying theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical, cross-sectional view of the panel shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal, cross-sectional view of the panel shown in FIG.1;

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FIG. 4 is an enlarged, perspective view -of the novel fastening clipshown in FIG. 1 and embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the clip shown in FIGS. 1 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the clip taken along lineVl-VI of FIG 5; and

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the clip shown in FIG. 1.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, numeral 1 denotesan exterior panel with an outwardly extending flange 3, and at the otherside, a reversibly bent, outwardly extending flange 2, so that adjoiningflanges 3 and 2 may be interlocked, as shown. Panels 1 may be made ofgalvanized steel, embossed or plain finished aluminum, aluminized steel,stainless steel, plastic, or any other suitable material.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the specificconstruction of clip 5, which is shown in more detail in FIG. 4. Theclip is preferably of metal and is provided with a flange or stem 13which has a reversely bent portion 14 which is adapted to serve as aclamp or stop against the edge of flange 3 of the exterior panel, asshown more clearly in FIG. 1. Flange 13 is punched out centrally asshown at 12 to provide an integral tab 11 which is adapted to serve as asupport for exterior panel 1 as shown more clearly in FIG. 3. Clip 5 isprovided with a recessed portion 9 with a hole Ill to seat the head of aself-tapping screw 15 so that the head will remain below the flatportion 6 of the clip, thereby not interfering with the back surface ofpanel 1. The self-tapping screw 15 is fastened to structural framemember 4 of the building so as to support the exterior panels.

Clip 5 also contains an outer turned out tab or flange 7 which fitsagainst structural frame member 4 for support (see FIG. 2) and stepflanged leg 7' and 8 which fits against the side edge of frame member 4so as to provide a means whereby the clip cannot rotate while beingsecured to the support member.

A modification of clip 5 includes reversing the bend of bent portion 14inwardly toward the clip flat portion 6 and eliminating the punched outportion 12 and tab 11 so that the surface of flange 13 is planar. Thismodification accomplishes essentially the same purposes as the clipshown in FIG. 4 but has the limitation that the modified clips must beinstalled before the panels are att-ached.

In operation, an exterior wall panel 1 is positioned against ahorizontally extending, structural girt or frame member 4 of a building.Clips 5 are attached to the outwardly extending flange 3 of the panel sothat reversely bent portion 14 overlays flange 3 and so that tab 11 fitssnugly under flange 3.

Clip 5 is positioned on frame member 4 so that flanged leg portion 8rests on top of the frame member and the other flanged leg portion 7rests against the outer face of the frame member. Clip 5 is thenattached to frame member 4 by means of a self-tapping screw 15.

After one panel is fastened by clips 5, another panel is interlockedtherewith and additional clips are fastened at vertical intervals alongthe opposite side which will be concealed by the subsequently placedouter panel. The interlocked flanges are then die clinched at intervals.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an improved elficient exteriorwall assembly held together and fastened to the structural buildingframe member solely by means of inexpensive clips of such constructionas to aflord numerous fastening and spacing functions, therefore, takingthe place of :a variety of fastening means required for the samepurposes in conventional outside metal panel Wall construction; I havefurther provided an efiicient clip for 3 assembly of uninsulate'd typemetal wall panels, which clip has a flanged leg to position it on thestructural girt to prevent turning; a recessed pocket to clear the headof the screw for securing the clip; a turned-out tab to provide a levelshelf for the panel on both sides of the stern; a hooked stem to securethe male leg of the panels tightly against the girt; and a square holethrough which the panel may be button punched, thus securing the maleand female legs of the panel to the clip; furthermore, I have provided aclip construction enabling fastening directly onto the face of astructural girt with self-tapping screws instead of requiring attachmentalso to a subgirt, which clip provides the necessary separate plane toreceive the metal wall panels without interference by the heads of thefasteners.

While I have illustrated and described several embodiments of myinvention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustrationonly, and that various changes and modifications may be made within thecontemplation of my invention and within the scope of the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In a wall construction comprising a structural frame member, aplurality of outer panels having interlocking side flanges, a pluralityof clips, each having a reversely bent flange portion directly clampinga side flange of one of said panels, a struck out portion at rightangles to said flange portion and directly supporting an interiorportion of an outside panel, :an integral ledge portion at right anglesto said flange portion supporting the inner surface of an adjoiningoutside panel, one edge of said clip having an integral flanged legportion of angle crosssection nested on and supported by the upper edgeof said frame member, the other edge of said clip having an extensionwhich rests against the other face of said frame member at right anglesto the upper edge, a screw seat in said integral ledge portion recessedaway from the inner surface of said outer panel and having a hole forreceiving a self-tapping screw which fastens said clip to said framemember so as to secure said panels to said frame member.

2. In a wall construction as recited in claim 1 wherein said clip ischannel shaped, one extremity terminating in said one edge, the otherextremity terminating in said other edge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,532,421 4/1925 Maclnnes et a1.52-547 1,714,738 5/1929 Smith 52512 2,989,157 6/1961 MoStOller 52-588 X3,209,503 10/ 1965 Mostoller 52-547 X 3,323,268 6/1967 Johnson 52478 X3,323,269 6/1967 Widdowson 52-547 X FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

ALFRED C. PERHAM, Examiner.

